Confronted with a crisis of political confidence among their citizens, several European States are looking to e-government. This concept is intended to modernise the practices of government and communication, and improve the services offered to citizens, making them more effective and accessible to all. The e-Bygov project proposes to develop concrete applications for e-government in the Atlantic Area. Thanks to the New Technologies of Information and Communication, the partners intend to improve the working practices of government services and public access to services and information. The association to this project of Latvia as an observer will improve the opportunities for future co-operation with the new member countries in the setting up of e-government solutions. Achievements: • Awareness and involvement in e-government: An "e-buzz" campaign at the beginning of the project, 36 public events gathering 1,600 people, six radio programmes with an audience of more than 70,000 listeners, more than 13,000 visits to the project websites, more than 70,000 leaflets distributed in the various initiatives in the project. • Improvements to the back office: Technical improvements (functional, programming, design, digital authentication, smartcards for shared services, etc) and staff training in various fields of application (public consultation, water quality, distribution of grants, transport). • Dissemination of information and services online, helping citizens to understand e-democracy, integration into the decision-making processes: • Development of regional Internet portals offering information systems (access to catalogues, free information services by SMS) concerning transport, water quality, regional events • Supply of online services (for example: putting SMEs in contact with Consultants for innovation and management) • Online payment service: e-transaction and e-tickets in the form of large-scale micro payments for a range of services (10,000 payments). • Development of an online public consultation tool (documents, online surveys, forums, etc) to define regional programmes. • Implementation of a procurement contract platform: Facilitates access to markets for SMEs and their investigation by the local authorities. • Creation of a Geographic Information System called "Spatial E-government Model" • Development of a high speed satellite network in the rural and isolated areas par satellite in southwest Ireland